International
| The world is watching the transition of power to President Donald Trump

by Mindy Belz Posted 1/20/17, 12:00 pm

UNITED STATES: Inauguration Day, here you are. Clearly President Donald Trump brings a new political order, and to the question of what gets blown up along the way, Daniel Henninger writes, “The most destabilizing force in our politics wasn’t Donald Trump. It was that political status quo”:

Persecution
| Americans and Christian minorities in Turkey are increasingly singled out as state-of-emergency laws turn the largest democracy in the Middle East into an authoritarian state

by Mindy Belz Posted 1/18/17, 02:33 pm

As if the hassles of international travel aren’t enough, Ryan Keating found himself flagged last October embarking on a routine flight from Turkey. For a decade the Yale University graduate and East Coast native has lived there, pursuing doctoral studies and church-based work. An officer seized his resident permit, telling him it had been canceled “for reasons of national security.”

Julia A. Seymour | 12/19/16, 10:42 am

Since an attempted coup in July, Turkey’s authoritarian president has cracked down on dissent and now Christians are caught in the backlash, facing denied visas, deportations, and accusations of terrorism.

International
| Andrew Brunson faces charges of ‘terrorism’

Mindy Belz | 12/09/16, 03:23 pm

TURKEY: Authorities today imprisoned Andrew Brunson, the 48-year-old American pastor detained two months ago and slated for deportation. Overnight, Brunson was transferred to Nolu T Tipi Prison in Izmir and heard for the first time the charges against him: terrorism. A judge accused Brunson of ties to the Fetullah Gulen movement, which authorities in Ankara accuse of instigating a failed military coup against the Turkish government in July.

Mindy Belz | 10/31/16, 01:16 pm

BRAZIL: Conservative Sen. Marcelo Crivella, an evangelical and Pentecostal, handily beat a socialist lawmaker to become Rio de Janeiro’s new mayor, in the country’s first major poll since lawmakers impeached leftist President Dilma Rousseff in August.

Iraq
| Divided American evangelicals can unite to help Christians in Iraq

Mindy Belz | 10/28/16, 01:00 am

I’ve traveled to Europe and many states to speak about the persecution of Christians in the Middle East following the spring release of my book, They Say We Are Infidels. Everywhere I go I’m asked the same question: What can we do to help?

International
| Iraqi forces continue to push toward Mosul

Mindy Belz | 10/24/16, 12:14 pm

IRAQ: In Nineveh Plains, the sound of church bells ringing is heard once again, as Iraqi forces recaptured the historically Christian town of Bartella last week and continue on their march to liberate ISIS-occupied Mosul.

VENEZUELA: In a special session Sunday, lawmakers announced they will push to impeach President Nicolas Maduro, and his supporters responded by storming the National Assembly building.

International
| The battle to retake Nineveh Plains from ISIS could ‘go fast and easy’

Mindy Belz | 10/17/16, 09:12 am

IRAQ: Overnight, Iraqi army forces began an operation to liberate Mosul from ISIS, which has held the country’s second largest city since June 2014. According to Archimandrite Emanuel Youkhana, an Assyrian church cleric and head of the Iraqi relief group CAPNI, the battle by Kurdish peshmerga and other Iraqi contingents to retake surrounding Nineveh Plains “may go fast and easy,” as those forces advanced 6 miles in a few hours, liberating 12 villages east of Mosul.

International
| NATO member holds a pastor and his wife in defiance of international law

Mindy Belz | 10/14/16, 04:34 pm

TURKEY: In the shadow of a key U.S. military base crucial to the fight against ISIS, Turkish authorities have detained American Christians Andrew and Norine Brunson for a week now—refusing to allow access to them by U.S. consular officials and lawyers, as required by international law. Turkey, remember, is a NATO member.

Most Popular

Daniel of the Year | Held in Turkey on charges of espionage and terrorism, facing a life sentence for doing the work of the church, American Pastor Andrew Brunson’s dramatic release was the work of high-powered diplomacy and prevailing prayer